Gold Museum of Peru and Weapons of the World

The Gold Museum of Peru and Weapons of the World showcases over 7,000 pre-Columbian gold artifacts from cultures like Vicus, Moche, Sican, and Chimu. Founded by Miguel Mujica Gallo in 1968, the museum also features a vast collection of over 20,000 weapons from around the world, including items from the 13th century. Visitors can admire ceremonial masks, jewelry, and ancient weapons, offering a comprehensive insight into Peru’s rich cultural heritage.

Planning your visit

The Gold Museum of Peru is two collections in one building, assembled by a single obsessive. Miguel Mujica Gallo spent a lifetime acquiring, and the museum he founded in 1968 in Lima's Monterrico district holds over 7,000 pre-Columbian gold objects from the Vicús, Moche, Sicán and Chimú cultures — ceremonial masks, funerary ornaments, nose and ear pieces, tumi knives — displayed alongside more than 20,000 weapons gathered from around the world, some dating from the thirteenth century, including armour, swords, firearms and pieces associated with historical figures.

The combination is genuinely eccentric: a basement vault of Andean goldwork upstairs from an international arsenal. It reflects one collector's interests rather than a curatorial scheme, which is either the museum's charm or its weakness depending on your expectations.

The gold rooms are the reason most visitors come. Andean metalwork was ritual and status material rather than currency, and the techniques — hammering, alloying, gilding — reached a sophistication that surprises people expecting simple ornament.

It sits some distance from central Lima in a residential district, so most bookable options include transport. Formats include museum tours, half-day private Lima city tours that combine the museum with the historic centre or Miraflores, and combined city itineraries. Given Lima's traffic, guided formats with a driver are the practical way to include it. Current options are shown below.